We help brands increase desirability, forge connections and leave a lasting impact

We have pioneered the Business of Aesthetics© with the mission of showing executives and entrepreneurs why and how to put delight at the heart of their strategy.
This unique approach to strategy and brand-building exist at the interplay between business, science, behavioral economics and human-centered design.
We guide every one of our clients through a proven process that ensures joy & delight becomes an integral part of their brand identity:
Understanding What People Love and Why
Personal preferences are influenced by genetics and context, but the pursuit of beauty and its impact on health, well-being, and learning is universal.
We draw from scientific disciplines such as neuro-aesthetics (the study of how and why we react to aesthetic experiences) or cross-sensory perception (how our senses work together to shape perceptions) to help clients understand customer preferences and craft memorable brand experiences that evoke feelings of joy and delight.

Team Leadership

We combine skills and experience in 6 distinct areas:
Brand Management
Strategic Analysis
Market Research
Business acceleration & innovation
Training
Personal development
pauline-brown-

Pauline Brown

Founder & President
Pauline is renowned for building and leading many of the world’s most influential brands and brings extensive industry experience related to consumer behavior, beauty, fashion, and luxury.
She is the author of the groundbreaking business book Aesthetic Intelligence (HarperCollins, 2019), an adjunct marketing professor at Columbia Business School (formerly at Harvard), and sits on several boards, including the Neiman Marcus Group and UPenn Center for Neuroaesthetics.

Since 2017, Pauline has been the host of her own weekly talk show on SiriusXM’s Business Radio, called “the Other A.I..”

She also is a Henry Crown Leadership Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
  • As the former Chairman of North America for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, she provided regional leadership for 70+ brands in 5 sectors.
  • Before joining LVMH, Pauline was a Managing Director at The Carlyle Group, where she co-led investments in the consumer and retail sectors.
  • Earlier in her career, Pauline led strategy and business development for Estee Lauder, helping to expand the company’s portfolio from 7 to 25 distinct beauty brands.
  • She began her career as a Strategy Consultant at Bain & Co.
paula-oriol

Paula Oriol

Co-Founder & CEO
Paula is an expert in fostering future-focused innovation strategies and shifting mindsets to help prepare organisations and the people behind them handle new challenges.
She’s worked with governments to boost national entrepreneurship, led MIT Tech Review’s startup & VC ecosystem and empowered leading companies like Endesa with essential soft skills to navigate change.
Her approach to transformation is rooted in the belief that personal growth and wellbeing is the foundation for organizational excellence. At Aesthetic Intelligence Labs she helps leaders become more attuned to their senses and build the optimal foundation from which to think and act more aesthetically.
She is a business innovation expert, a published author, a communication coach and currently pursuing a holistic health coach certification.

Partners & Collaborators

We are experts in the science and art of brand sensorial seduction. To stay at the forefront of our field, we collaborate with a diverse team of creative, academic, and strategic thinkers from a variety of disciplines, including design, neuroscience, economics, sensorial artistry, and more.
We also work closely with renowned research institutions and universities. When working with a client, we often bring one of our experts on board to provide a rich and varied perspective.

Hervé Humler

Luxury Hospitality
Hervé J.L. Humler is a visionary hotelier widely respected throughout the luxury hotel industry and one of the four founding partners of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. He joined our advisory board to share add his wealth of expertise in global hospitality, project development and operations to our Business of Aesthetics methodologies.

Anjan Chatterjee

Neuroaesthetic
Anjan is a Professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and the founding director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. He advises us on all things neuroaesthetics, a subdiscipline of cognitive neuroscience concerned with the neural basis of aesthetic experiences, which involve interactions with entities and events that evoke intense feelings, often of pleasure.

Vanessa Kay

Neuroaesthetic
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit.

Greg Sherwin

Human Centered Technology
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit.

The Book

In her groundbreaking book, Pauline Brown provides a crucial roadmap to help business leaders and entrepreneurs create brands that stand out and build businesses that last.
Purchase Book

Vision & Values

Vision

To transform the business world by unlocking the enormous (untapped) economic and human potential of Aesthetic Intelligence.

Our Core Values

Our values provide direction for our strategy, set the tone for our content, and permeate our relationships with our stakeholders.

1)

We believe aesthetic intelligence is a uniquely human advantage

We believe advances in artificial intelligence will require workers to become more human, not less. It will require them to develop their talents in areas that cannot be so easily and economically overtaken by technology – like creativity, sociability, empathy, and imagination.

Mind you; computers can and will approximate those skills. But humans, we believe, will continue to perform them in much more elevated, profound, and inspiring ways.

2)

We believe talent remains a company's biggest differentiator

Technology is effective at handling about 80% of business functions, but humans are needed for the rest. And, we believe the rest is what differentiates the best companies. Having said that, the best companies don't just attract the best talent; rather, they create the right environment and invest in the right resources for their talent to excel.

3)

We value quality over quantity

We believe real transformation comes from deep contemplation and consistent effort. We seek to work with clients who are committed to both.

Our clients prioritize lasting goals over quick and easy “wins.” They are prepared to invest sufficient time and resources and committed to long-term development and sustainable growth.

4)

We believe true luxury is built on aesthetic experiences

Luxury brands are comprised of far more than exquisitely designed products and aspirational marketing campaigns. They offer aesthetic experiences, rich in what we call “R.E.M.” (relationships, experiences and memories).

Our learning experiences are designed to sensitize businesspeople to the value of aesthetic expressions and equip them with the know-how to transform their own business interests into more luxurious propositions.

5)

We believe aesthetics is interlocked with ethics

There are times when aesthetics fails, not because it isn’t pleasing or exciting sensorially, but because it is known to be inauthentic, deceptive, or malicious. In the end, true aesthetic value must be built on pure intentions and defensible actions.

As such, we are committed to expressing our own truths in everything we do, including and especially our aesthetic strategies, and we encourage all our clients to do the same, whether (or not) their authentic expressions correspond with our own.

6)

We believe aesthetics drives sustainability (and vice versa)

Aesthetics is informed and inspired by nature. Natural elements have the power to evoke awe, wonder and other desirable emotions. But we believe aesthetics also plays a crucial role in supporting sustainability efforts.

Aesthetically-pleasing designs and experiences create an emotional connection with individuals. By incorporating aesthetics into sustainability strategies, companies can engage constituents on an emotional level and inspire them to embrace more sustainable behaviors. Aesthetics also supports sustainability by promoting the use of durable materials timeless designs.

7)

We believe exploration and experimentation lead to progress

We live in a period of exponential change, and the gap between the winners and losers is widening. We believe the winner’s path starts with a curiosity for learning. That is how our own methodologies and practices have been developed and refined.

We continue to take an iterative (“test and learn”) approach to setting strategy, curating our content, and evolving our business model.

8)

We lean in to debates and challenge the status quo

We believe the business world has reached an inflection point in which enterprise efficiency is negatively affected by size. (In other words, businesses have entered an era of “diseconomies of scale”). The winners are generally those that remain lean and agile.

It therefore is all the more important to rethink traditional business practices and take on entrenched ways of thinking.

9)

We suscribe to a holistic & interdisciplinary approach to learning

We believe Aesthetic Intelligence requires integrative thinking. Our curriculum incorporates and synthesizes insights from diverse fields, including neuroscience, behavioral economics, psychology, anthropology, environmental science, art, history, technology, architecture, and design.

Our learning experience uses a combination of formats, including masterclasses, interactive workshops, case studies, practical exercises, and community forums.

10)

Everyone has the potential to cultivate aesthetic intelligence

People are born with far more Aesthetic Intelligence than they realize. Like all muscles, it must be developed. Of course, some people are naturally gifted. However, even they must continue to hone their aesthetic talents and evolve their styles, lest their advantage atrophy.

Through research, development and testing, A.I. Labs has come up with powerful and proprietary methodologies for developing its clients' aesthetic capabilities. Over time, they not only have strengthened their clients’ businesses, but, in many cases, transformed them.

Learn more about

The Business of Aesthetics

Subscribe to Aesthetic Aha’s!, our look at the critical issues facing global business

Aesthetic Intelligence Labs. All Rights Reserved © 2024 · Privacy Policy
Contact
Linkedin Twitter Facebook Instagram